Oathbreakers
by HikariOni22
Summary: There are those who leave, and those who have been left behind.
1. Chapter 1

"It's fucking COLD!"

Leiko had her arms locked around one of her husband's and huddled against him to steal as much of his body warmth as possible, which seemingly didn't work. She used it as an excuse to hold him closer, and the smile that floated on his lips let her know he knew.

"We'll get you some warmer clothes," he hummed.

She pushed herself against him further.

"Babe!" she whined. "How the fuck do you expect me to wear warmer clothes? Under the armour? You know this thing is form-fitting."

"Well maybe you should've thought about that before you got it made. It's not like you didn't know you'd be travelling the world!" he countered while the smile didn't leave his face.

It did make her feel a little bit warmer. Mostly, as she stared at the pleasant fold of his lips, it bared a smile on her own and heated her cheeks. She buried her face against his arm and the fur lining his armour.

"It's not fair. Your armour is like, all-season."

She rubbed her face on the fur.

"So soft!"

He had a chuckle and a sigh all at once, an expression she knew all too well. It generally meant something like _fine, I give up_, and in this instance that meant he turned to face her and gathered her form against his chest, wrapping his arms around her. It gave him pause.

"Wow. You _are_ shivering."

She lifted her face to look at him, but never moved to separate from him. The smile hadn't left her face even if it had his, and fondness bloomed in her eyes when she watched worry fold his eyebrows.

"Well, I wasn't lying just to get a hug," she said. "If I wanted that, I'd have just asked."

He didn't grow less worried.

"We'll have to get you a cloak, at least. But that's just a temporary solution. We have to make your armour more cold-friendly. We might be here a while, and you never know when we'll have to work somewhere cold again."

Before, when he'd talked about going to Lumi and staying there for a long time, he'd get annoyed, or at least bothered. Now, it was as if he'd forgotten all of that – just because she was cold. The knowledge, the feeling overwhelmed her, and she couldn't help but squirm to release her arms and reach up to hold his face.

"I'll be fine," she assured in a soft voice. He stared for a moment, his worry very slowly melting away.

She pushed to stand on the tip of her toes.

"Hey," she whispered now that she'd managed to get herself closer to his face. "I love you."

A smile he couldn't help broke out on his face. She brought his face down and laid a kiss on his lips. He leaned into it gently, and when she pulled back he didn't bother to do the same.

"I love you too," he breathed, and it warmed her lips.

She slid her arms from his face to behind his neck and locked her hands together there. A shiver ran through him where her cold fingers laid on her skin.

"We really need to get you some gloves."

She laughed.

* * *

They'd been flying on the boat for a while now. Lumi was a medium-sized town (much larger than Yatori, but much smaller than Dundorma) in the mountains, known for its cold, snowy winters and its large merchant community. If a product came from this region, chances were it passed through Lumi at some point.

Leiko knew two things about the town apart from that: Akio was from there, and he had somewhat of a strained relationship with his family, who lived there. She hadn't pressed him about the subject, because he clearly didn't want to talk about it. Not because it was a tough subject (he'd have told her about that), just because it didn't bother him much. At least, that's the impression she got – and, as his wife, she'd gotten pretty good at reading him, if she did say so herself.

Their assignment there didn't exactly weigh on his mind, but it did slightly bother him. She hoped for his sake that they would be out of there soon. But, as was the work of the Ace Hunters, she doubted it would be that easy.

At least they'd get to work with Yuki and Kanta again. If she wasn't particularly fond of the man (although she didn't have anything against him specifically), the knowledge that Yuki would be there was plenty to make up for it. And she was happy for Hana, too, who'd get to see her wife again.

She'd heard that Kyoko would be around as well, and that made her very glad. They hadn't had much time to hang out when she'd come along with the Guild fleet when they'd fought that army of Velociprey, and Leiko was looking forward to hunting with the Kindred Hunter again.

They'd written to each other, but Kyoko apparently didn't like to talk about her feelings on paper, so they hadn't had any actually serious discussions. Leiko wanted to check up. Their being apart for so long had her realize that she truly, deeply cared for Kyoko.

All of those things had been on Leiko's mind on the past few days, ever since snow had begun gracing the Unaaq's bow. Now that Lumi was coming into view, the thoughts bloomed within her mind and trickled down into apprehension and excitement at the bottom of her stomach. She reached out for Akio's hand and appreciated the warmth on her cold fingers, then looked back and met eyes with Hana with a wide smile. The Gunner didn't react.

The Unaaq docked at the bustling port of Lumi to join dozens of other boats. Leiko ran her gaze over the hustling crowd to try and find a familiar face.

She glanced to Akio, who apparently had. He made a face and she softly squeezed his hand.

The foot he laid onto the docks carried much the same kind of weight Leiko remembered bearing when they went to Yatori, if slightly subdued. She obediently followed his lead as he weaved through the crowd, the rest of the Aces also at his heels.

And then he stood there, his shoulders squared and his chin lifted, in front of two people.

Leiko immediately noticed the resemblance between Akio and his siblings. There was a woman, tall (taller than Akio, even!), with the same platinum blonde hair and familiar features. And, besides her, a short man with black hair, ever so slightly taller than Leiko, sharing with Akio the shape of his eyes and the cut of his jaw.

They all stood there staring at each other for a moment.

"It's been a long time, Akio."

"It has."

His sister having spoken first seemed to alleviate some of the discomfort from Akio's shoulders, and he turned to gesture to his companions assembled.

"You've met Hana," he begun. "As well as Hideaki. That is Haru, my pupil. And this is my wife, Leiko."

Akio's sister's eyes widened suddenly.

"Your wife?"

He didn't avert his gaze, but Leiko felt the shock pass through him and shake his composure.

"You're _married_?" his sister insisted.

Leiko knew he hadn't invited his family to their wedding. They'd talked about that. But the fact that they hadn't even been informed that it was happening was news to her.

She shot him a look, but kept it all in for now. They'd discuss this later.

"Well, uh, yes," was Akio's only excuse.

His sister stared at him. Then, she took in a sharp breath and let out a long sigh, settling the indignation that had begun to take her features.

"You... Ugh. Fine."

He averted his gaze, looked over his companions, then met eyes with Leiko and some of the unease in his irises let up. They had a quiet conversation for a moment which he ended with something like _Sorry_.

"So, everyone... That's my sister, Miyuki, and my brother, Shigeo."

Leiko untangled their fingers and took a step forward to offer her hand for her siblings-in-law to shake. She offered a fierce smile to try and compensate for the fact that they didn't actually know she existed until just a moment ago.

"It's nice to meet you," she said.

Both siblings had a firm handshake, although only Shigeo actually shared her smile. Afterwards, Haru stepped up to offer a hand too.

They all hovered a bit awkwardly around each other after that. Finally, Miyuki took a step back to disengage from the conversation (although it could hardly be called that).

"Well, we'll let you guys settle in with the town chief."

"We will. Thank you for coming to welcome us."

Miyuki pursed her lips but nonetheless gave a small nod. One more step back and she left, Shigeo at her heels.

Leiko spun to face Akio.

"Babe..."

"We'll talk later. We have to go check in with the town chief."

She sighed and shook her head but reached to grab his hand anyway. He briefly turned to Hana, Hideaki and Haru.

"You should go find your wife, Hana. The rest of you, well, you're welcome to come with us or not."

The Gunner's eyes twinkled although her expression remained neutral, and Leiko couldn't help a smirk. Hideaki chose to follow her, and Haru broke off to go and find Kyoko and the Caravan.

As far as Leiko knew, Akio hadn't been to Lumi in several years – perhaps longer than she'd stayed out of Yatori. Yet he still seemed to know the streets well enough to navigate them without trouble, and they soon found themselves in front of a large building.

They went in, settled their affairs with the woman leading this town (and with the Guild representative), then headed back out.

Going back to the cold sent a long shiver crawling along Leiko's spine, and she closed her teeth so that they wouldn't chatter. Akio extended an arm to drape it around her shoulders and brought her against himself.

"Oh, darling. We really should get you some warmer clothes."

"Don't play innocent with me, babe. Please."

He made a face, but didn't retract his embrace – neither did she get out of it.

"I know, but I'm not. I won't try to weasel out of this. But you do need warmer clothes, and it's more urgent than you would think."

She sighed, melting slightly into his embrace and letting her head fall on his shoulder.

"You're impossible."

He squeezed her softly against himself.

"I know."


	2. Chapter 2

Akio had explained to Leiko that there didn't use to be any Guild presence in this town. Now, they'd come to deal with the growing population of monsters around. Hunters rarely stayed here very long and things had been pretty peaceful until recently, but it was still a change.

As a result, he didn't know of any blacksmiths specialized in Hunter gear in Lumi. They'd had to look around a little, but they'd ended up finding someone that Leiko felt comfortable enough to trust with her armour.

Apparently, he was a friend of the blacksmith she'd commissioned for her Hammer. They'd only met briefly, but she still recognized him. Even so, she was quite fidgety once she'd shed the armour. Even after they'd gone to buy some warmer clothes to wear.

"I feel naked without it," she said.

"I know, darling."

"I hate it."

"I know, darling."

"Do you think he'll do any big changes?"

"Probably not. I assume it's only a matter of insulation. I'm not much more well-versed in these matters than you."

She made a face and shuffled closer to him, wrapping an arm around his waist. He held her a little bit closer as they walked.

They headed to the provided accommodation together. Leiko broke their embrace and stepped into their chosen room first, and Akio closed the door behind them.

She spun on a heel to face him, arms crossed and a stern look on her face.

"Okay, so... Seriously, babe? You didn't even _tell_ them? It's okay if you really have that bad of a relationship with them, obviously I'd understand. But if that's the case, you should have said so. I'd have been in a completely different mindset for coming here."

He avoided her gaze for a moment, reaching up with a hand to rub the back of his neck. His shoulders had fallen slightly and he pursed his lips. He opened his mouth to speak, but she cut him off to add something:

"And if you say 'I didn't want to worry you', I'm gonna be seriously pissed off. We've talked about this."

He sighed.

"That's not it. I suppose I figured it wasn't that important."

She took a step forward and met his gaze, hers pleading and angry. It sent pain shooting through his heart.

"Do you have that bad of a relationship with them, or not? You told me it was strained, I didn't think that meant you wouldn't tell them that you were getting _married_! That's a pretty big deal!"

Again, he sighed.

"It's just... We don't always see eye to eye. That's all."

"Don't downplay it, Akio! Please don't. Why didn't you tell them? Were you afraid they'd come anyway?"

"I didn't want to bother them."

She took a step forward and lightly tapped both fists on his chest.

"It isn't bothering people that love you to tell them that you're getting married, babe. That's like, the furthest thing I could ever think from bothersome. Is that really the reason?"

She was nothing but warm, staring straight into his eyes and practically begging him for the truth. For a moment, it all washed over him like a pleasant wave, something that made him want to bend down and kiss her. He had a hard time keeping it contained.

"It's nothing."

She stared at him in silence for a moment, her eyebrows creased.

"... Don't make a Hana out of yourself, Akio."

The call-out passed through him and widened his eyes, hardened his features and pursed his lips. Still, he stubbornly held on.

"It's not a problem."

She had a long sigh that heaved her chest and pulled annoyance along her features.

"I'm making it a problem, Akio. So please tell me what's going on. It clearly bothers you, and now it bothers me too, so just say it."

He stared at her quietly, looping his arms around her waist without quite bringing her closer. She held his gaze, running hers over his face for any signs of a crack in his composure. She could see some tiredness in his pupils. She knew he wanted her to let it go. She also knew that he knew she wouldn't.

"An overwhelming majority of the time, it truly doesn't bother me," he sighed. "I didn't tell them we were getting married because, well... it's true that I didn't want to bother them. But also, I suppose I didn't want them there. And if they didn't know about it, their feelings wouldn't be hurt that I didn't invite them."

"Why didn't you tell them afterwards, then?"

He stayed quiet.

"It was always gonna come back to bite you in the ass if you didn't. Were you planning on never seeing them ever again?"

It was sarcasm, but she did know what his answer would be. And that answer wasn't very far from what she was suggesting.

"I... didn't think about it. Or at least I tried not to."

She had a long inhale, less a sigh and more a chuckle. She shook her heard softly.

"Baby... there are many times I've told you 'we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.' This really isn't one of the situations where that applies."

He didn't say anything.

She continued: "Of course they were going to be hurt if you didn't invite them to your wedding. But you can't just run away forever in order to avoid hurting people."

He made a face.

"I can try."

She shook her head and planted a stare into his, serious. He tilted his face forward as if to reach out for hers.

"... I know, I know," he said.

She wriggled to free one of her arms, reach up and lay her palm on his cheek. The scars along her fingers felt a little strange on his skin, but he had long gotten used to it. Her sleeve slid down slightly and the tip of her tattoo (and therefore the tip of her scar) peeked out.

"We can face it. Together. I'm here, and I'll stand right by you the entire time."

He turned his head to graze a kiss on her fingers. A smile bloomed on her face, warm.

"I know," he breathed.

It absolutely melted her heart. She perched on the tip of her toes and laid a kiss at the corner of his lips, one he turned his head back to catch and deepen. When they separated, she ever so softly shook her head.

"You're really fuckin' something."

His lips pulled back into a smirk that he simply couldn't help.

"Yeah, y-"

"Don't say it."

The smile was already playing on her face, so it's not like he needed to.


End file.
